DA wins back Wards 17 and 18 in Eldorado Park
The DA has reclaimed Wards 17 and 18 in Eldorado Park from the Patriotic Alliance, while the party's strong showing in Johannesburg leaves the city facing coalition negotiations after no party secured an outright majority.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) went from taking an early lead during ballot results counting to reclaiming both Ward 17 and Ward 18 in Eldorado Park from the Patriotic Alliance (PA).
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) announced the final results of the 2026 local government elections on the evening of November 8.
Fazel Jaffer won Ward 18 with 41.79% (4 930 votes), beating the PA’s Juwairiya Kaldine by a difference of 421 votes. Kaldine obtained 38.22% (4 509 votes).
Although Jaffer received the most votes in all nine voting districts (VDs) in Ward 18, JD Opperman Recreation Centre recorded the highest result, with 50.96% (1 806 votes).
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The other VDs recorded results ranging between 49.68% and 35.01%, the latter being the lowest among the nine VDs.
Meanwhile, Priscilla Pinkie Ferris claimed Ward 17 with 36.66% (3 913 votes), defeating the PA’s Dwain Adin Ponsonby.
Ferris won by a margin of 692 votes, with Ponsonby receiving 30.17% (3 221 votes), compared with the 52.16% he secured in the 2021 elections.
Ferris received the most votes in six of the eight VDs. These included Kliptown Ebenezer Congregational Church, which recorded the highest result at 49.59%. Parkdale Primary School, Kliptown Secondary School, Home of the Paseo Baptist Church and Elohim Community Church recorded the lowest result, at 30.15%.
This is not the first time the DA has taken control of Eldorado Park. The party took over in 2018 and held the wards until 2020, when it lost them to the PA.
Top six parties
Ward 17
•Priscilla Pinkie Ferris – DA (3 913 votes)
•Dwain Adin Ponsonby – PA (3 221 votes)
•Lucky Letlhogonolo Ragophala – African National Congress (813 votes)
•Willem Meshark van Wyk – ActionSA (540 votes)
•Peter Deon Rafferty – African Independent Congress (476 votes)
•Marc Leandere Gerren Smith – Community First Movement (448 votes)
Ward 18
•Fazel Jaffer – DA (4 930 votes)
•Juwairiya Kaldine – PA (4 509 votes)
•Nomathamsanqa Lucky Mkhonza – ActionSA (428 votes)
•Zaida Krauser – ANC (404 votes)
•Yahya Mohammed – Al Jama-ah (302 votes)
•Shàquill Tristan Kasan – People’s Movement for Change (256 votes)
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Johannesburg council race
The City of Johannesburg recorded an 8.4 percentage-point increase in voter turnout. The IEC reported a 52.30% turnout in 2026, compared with 43.9% in 2021.
No party secured an outright majority. However, the DA obtained the most seats, with 91 out of 270. A party needed 136 seats to govern the city with an outright majority.
The DA also emerged as the leading party in the City of Johannesburg. According to the IEC results, the party received 34.79% (867 068 votes), followed by the ANC with 20.25% (504 733 votes) and ActionSA with 16.27% (405 488 votes).
With no party holding a majority, parties will have to form coalitions and decide who will govern the city.
Council seat allocation
• DA won 51 wards and 91 seats.
• ANC won 63 wards and 63 seats.
• ActionSA won 10 wards and 43 seats.
• Economic Freedom Fighters won two wards and 17 seats.
• uMkhonto weSizwe Party won one ward and 15 seats.
• Inkatha Freedom Party won four wards and seven seats.
• PA won two wards and five seats.
• Rise Mzansi and Freedom Front Plus each won five seats.
• Al Jama-ah won two wards and three seats.
• African Transformation Movement won three seats.
• South African Communist Party, Afrika Mayibuye Movement and African Christian Democratic Party each won two seats.
• African People’s Convention, Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, People’s Movement for Change, African Independent Congress, African Heart Congress, Economic Liberators Forum South Africa and Build One South Africa each won one seat.
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National performance
The ANC’s support base continued to decline in the 2026 local government elections, with the party receiving 30.76% of the vote, compared with 40.18% in the 2024 national elections and 45.59% in the 2021 local government elections.
Despite the electoral decline, the ANC remains the leading party nationally, followed by the DA with 24.64% and the uMkhonto weSizwe Party with 9.77%.
